By CURTIS ROCKWELL

Item Sports Editor

POPLARVILLE — A playoff spot is more than likely on the line tonight when Jones visits Pearl River in juco South Division action.

Especially for the Wildcats.

A second consecutive loss by PRCC would drop them essentially two full games behind both the Bobcats and Gulf Coast.

“We only had 44 offensive snaps against Perk last week. They had 82. You can’t beat anybody like that,” PRCC head coach Tim Hatten said. “And we’re going up against another predominately running team this week. It’s going to be a big test for our defensive guys to rebound and stop the run.”

The 38-28 loss to the Bulldogs knocked PRCC from third in the nati to ninth in the latest national poll.

It was the fourth straight Gulf Coast win over PRCC, one shy of a school record. And it also marked the second straight week the Bulldogs knocked a team from its lofty status, as the previous week MGC beat then second ranked East Mississippi.

In all, three Top 10 teams were defeated this past weekend to cause a major shake up in this week’s NJCAA / JC Football.com Top 20 Poll. However, Blinn (Texas) remains No. 1 in the rankings for the fourth straight week and is followed again in the poll by their conference rival Navarro (Texas) who received 131 poll points.

Blinn picked up its fourth win of the season on Saturday with a 31-21 win over Kilgore (Texas). Navarro took down previously 17th-ranked Tyler (Texas) 61-28 last Thursday.

Pearl River’s (Miss.) 38-28 loss to Mississippi Gulf Coast drops the Wildcats from No. 3 to No. 10 in the rankings this week. Hutchinson (Kan.) also tumbles down the rankings this week from No. 4 to No. 13 after the Blue Dragons got shutout 31-0 by Fort Scott (Kan.).

The win over Pearl River was the second over a Top 5 team for Mississippi Gulf Coast and vaults the Bulldogs to No. 6 in this week’s poll. Last week the Bulldogs defeated then second-ranked East Mississippi 43-26. Mississippi Gulf Coast has now won four straight over the Wildcats, one short of the college’s record five-game winning against Pearl River from 1982-86.